Lady Eagles Sweep St. Clair

After taking the first set Tuesday against St. Clair, Sullivan found themselves trailing throughout most of the second.

Down 13-9, the Lady Eagles won four consecutive rallies, went back and forth and finally surged ahead.

Sullivan won 25-19, 25-21 to sweep the Lady Bulldogs and win back-to-back games. Sullivan put behind them a losing stretch from the previous week. Head coach Sarah Rochleau said the team knew the competition would be tougher, but was pleased with their performance against St. Clair.

“(It) was a nice win for us, especially considering they are a conference and district opponent,” Rochleau said. “Mallory Shetley and Katie Creek were very sharp, combining for 14 kills and only two errors.”

Rochleau complimented Alex Blankenship, who had four kills without an error, and libero Zariah Richards.

“Zariah has really been improving all season and she is doing an outstanding job passing and defending in the back court,” she said.

St. Clair led in the early part of the first set, but Sullivan overtook the Lady Bulldogs and finished comfortably ahead.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, St. Clair took the next five rallies. Sullivan tied the game at 8-all and 10-all before going up 11-10 on a net foul.

Riley Lock’s ace gave Sullivan a 13-11 lead, then Katie Creek’s block made it 16-12 and forced the Lady Bulldogs into a timeout.

Creek’s ensuing serve barely cleared the net and was quickly returned by St. Clair, but Mallory Shetley was waiting and delivered a thunderous spike.

St. Clair crawled within 18-15 on two straight aces by Megan Hinson. Sullivan won four of the next five rallies to go up 22-16. Shetley made an error, but quickly made up for it with a kill at the net on the next rally. Sullivan won the match point on a service error.

The Lady Eagles took the first point of the second set, only to watch St. Clair grab the lead and maintain it. Sullivan closed in and trailed 8-7 on a service error. They scored their next two points on St. Clair errors. Sullivan tied the game at 13-all on a double block by Shetley and Creek. St. Clair took the next point, while the Lady Eagles grabbed the next two winners, going up 15-14 on an ace by Alex Blankenship.

St. Clair would take the lead three more times, unable to breakaway on all three occasions. Lock tied the game at 16-all on a kill. St. Clair went up 18-16, but Creek killed the rally and Sullivan tied the game at 18. St. Clair went back on top on a kill, the last time they would lead. The Lady Eagles took the next two rallies and St. Clair scrambled into a timeout, the momentum tilting towards Sullivan.

Lock delivered two straight aces out of the break, then Creek went up for a block at the net to give Sullivan a 23-19 lead.

“Lock came up big at the end of the match, sending over tough some tough serves to help us pull ahead,” Rochleau said.

St. Clair briefly stopped Sullivan’s scoring, but Creek’s kill set up match point and St. Clair hit the ball into the net to give Sullivan the win.